SAC’s Steve Cohen Is Said to Be Bidding for Los Angeles Dodgers

Dec. 28 (Bloomberg) -- Billionaire hedge-fund manager Steve
Cohen is bidding for the Los Angeles Dodgers, according to a
person familiar with the effort, his second try this year to buy
at least a piece of a Major League Baseball team.

Cohen, 55, who runs the $14 billion SAC Capital Advisors
LLC in Stamford, Connecticut, is working with Steve Greenberg, a
managing director at Allen & Co., and has hired the
architectural firm Populous to look at the possible renovation
of Dodger stadium, said the person, who was granted anonymity
because the sale process is confidential. He’s also met with
sports agent Arn Tellem, the person said.

Tellem may end up running the team if Cohen is successful
in his bid, according to the Los Angeles Times, which reported
the story earlier.

Cohen isn’t the only bidder said to be eyeing the Dodgers.
Guggenheim Partners Chief Executive Officer Mark Walter said
this month than he was joining with Basketball Hall of Fame
member Magic Johnson to bid for the team.

The Dodgers, who have won six World Series championships,
filed for bankruptcy on June 27. Last month, Frank McCourt, the
team’s owner, agreed to sell. Bids are due on Jan. 13. At the
time of the bankruptcy, sports bankers said the Dodgers may
fetch up to $1 billion.

Mets Bid

Cohen bid this year for a minority stake in the New York
Mets. Another hedge-fund manager, David Einhorn of Greenlight
Capital Inc., won the bid, but the two parties later walked away
from the deal.

The Mets’ principal owners, Fred Wilpon and Saul Katz, are
in a legal battle with the trustee in charge of recovering money
for investors in Bernard Madoff’s Ponzi scheme. The team got a
$25 million loan from Major League Baseball a year ago, and the
New York Times said this month that the franchise received a $40
million bridge loan made available through Bank of America Corp.

The Mets lost $70 million in 2011, General Manager Sandy
Alderson told reporters at baseball’s Winter Meetings this
month.